EUSEW: Research report finds heat pumps booming

June 21, 2023 Editor

EUSEW heat pumps — The heat pumps study results were presented during EUSEW.

According to research pre-emptively announced at this year’s European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW), the European heat pumps market has been experiencing a surge, although certain member states are behind, with more than 50% still relying on gas for heating consumption.

This is according to Agne Toleikyte, project officer for the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, who announced findings of their The Heat Pump Wave: Opportunities and Challenges study, which will be released later this week.

According to their research, which analysed data from residential buildings on current and future energy trends, sales of heat pumps have grown significantly over the last decade.

Over the course of 2011 to 2022, they state, sales grew by 11%; by 2022 they boomed and this year alone saw 3 million sold in the European market, 90% of which were in the buildings sector.

Said Toleikyte: “Looking at the long-term scenarios to 2050, we see that ambient heat is emerging as a main energy source supplying space heating…However, if we look at the market share, we see that there are differences between some member states. In some countries, the heat pump represents a very low share of their heating supply.”

Heat pump results as presented by Toleikyte during EUSEW. Image courtesy EUSEW.

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The role of heat pumps within the energy sector has gained momentum over years due their superior energy efficiency over oil and gas boilers.

According to the World Green Building Council, buildings are responsible for 39% of global energy-related carbon emissions; 28% from operational emissions, from energy needed to heat, cool and power them.

According to the analysis, heat pump electricity demand will constitute 5% of total annual demand on the grid, increasing to 11% in Winter. They will also have a large influence on annual peak hourly demands.

Heat pumps here can be used as a powerful asset for energy management where, stated Toleikyte, demand response flexibility strategies, such as pooling them together as assets, can alleviate a considerable portion of stress on the power grid.

EUSEW is happening this week in Brussels, Belgium, from 20 to 22 June.